Kendall Gill scored 18 of his season-high 26 points in the first
half as the New Jersey Nets opened a 15-point lead and continued
a solid road trip with an 87-73 victory over the Sacramento
Kings, who have lost three in a row.

Kerry Kittles overcame foul trouble to score 18 points for the
Nets, who improved to 3-1 on their five-game road trip and 10-5
overall, moving into a tie for first place in the Atlantic
Division.

"We were playing for first place, and that's what we emphasized
today," Calipari said.

New Jersey did not win its 10th game last season until January
17th. When asked what the reaction would be if he had said that
his injury-riddled team would be in first place after 15 games,
Calipari said, "OK, let's get you drug-tested right now. I've
got the bottle, let's go."

Gill scored nine points in each of the first two quarters as the
Nets built a 48-33 halftime lead. The first-half points were a
season-low for Sacramento.

Mitch Richmond scored 16 points and Lawrence Funderburke and
Billy Owens added 13 apiece for the Kings, who trailed by as
many as 23 points and fell to 4-5 at home.

"We knew coming in that their starting lineup would be difficult
for us to defend," Kings coach Eddie Jordan said. "We knew that
the matchups just weren't in our favor to start the game and
they certainly proved it with Gill getting his numbers and Kerry
Kittles coming out in the second half."

The Nets erased their only deficit of 2-0 with eight straight
points. An 11-3 run capped by a jumper by Jayson Williams gave
New Jersey a 21-9 bulge with 2:32 left in the first quarter.

We thought they would come out a lot harder than they did, but
we were just fantastic today."

Sacramento trailed 23-15 after one period but closed to 25-19 on
a basket by Owens with 10:08 to go in the second quarter. The
Nets responded with an 8-2 spurt and two free throws by Kevin
Edwards rebuilt the lead to 33-21 with 6:24 remaining.

Kittles left with his third foul, but Gill picked up the slack.
His 14-footer with 2.6 seconds in the half extended the lead to
15 points.

The Kings did not attack Kittles in the third quarter and paid
for it. He scored 12 points in the period, including six in a
15-5 spurt that broke open the game. His basket with 6:13 left
in the quarter gave the Nets their largest lead at 63-40.

Sacramento trailed 74-52 entering the final period and got no
closer than the final margin.

Williams had 10 points and 13 rebounds and Sam Cassell added 10
and 11 assists for the Nets, who shot 40 percent (37-of-93) from
the field and held a 54-47 rebounding edge. New Jersey missed
nine of 20 free throws.

"We're in first place," bragged Williams. "We need some more
commercials and billboards."

Owens grabbed 16 rebounds and Michael Stewart pulled down 13 for
the Kings, who shot 37 percent (29-of-78) and had 21 turnovers.
Corliss Williamson was 3-of-18 from the field and Sacramento
missed 11 free throws.

"There were just a lot of turnovers, a lot of missed shots, and
we weren't taking high-percentage shots," Owens said. "We had
guys forcing the ball up and you just can't do that."

Nets rookie forward Keith Van Horn, who has missed the entire
season with a sprained right ankle, was scheduled to play but
sat out. The second overall pick in the draft will make his
debut when the club returns home.